baker



Patented Mar. 28, I899.

, a. s. a. w. K. BAKER. MACHINE FOR COVERING SMALL ARTICLES WITH LIQUID 0R SEMILIOUID COATING.

{Application filed Nov. 9, 1898.)

9 Sheets-Shem I.

(No Model-.)

Patented Mar. 28, I899.-

G. S. 8:. W. KUBAKER.

MACHINE FOR COVERING SMALL ARTICLES WITH LIQUID 0R SEMILIQUID COATING.

{Application fl led Nov. 9, 1898.)

9 Shee1s8heet 2.

(No Model.)

TNE mums firms 00., PNOTO-LIINO. wgsnma'rou, n. c.

N Patented Mar. 28, I899.

G. S. & W. K. BAKER. MACHINE FOB COVERING SMALL ARTICLES WITH LIQUID 0R SEMILIHUID COATING.

(Application filed Nov. 9, 1898.)

Model) 9 Sheets-Shad 3.

%' I Ww 'THE uunms wzrzns co. wornuwon WASHINGTON, D. c.

Patented Mai. 28, i899.

G. S. & W. K. BAKER. MACHINE FOR COVERING SMALL ARTICLES WITH LIQUID 0R SEMILIQUID COATING.

(Application filed Nov. 9, 1898,)

9 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

Patented Mar. 28, 1899 No; 622,I02.-

a. s. & w. K. BAKER. MACHINE FOR COVERING SMALL ARTICLES WITH LIQUID 0B SEMILICUID COATING.

, {Application filed. Nov. 9, 1898.)

9 Sheets-Sheet 5.

(.No Model.)

THE NORRIS PEYERS p0,. Pncnouma. wAsnmcmnfpl c.

Patented Mar. 28, I899.

G. 8. 8|. W. K. BAKER.

MACHINE FOR COVERING SMALL ARTICLES WITH LHIUl-D 0R SEMILIOUID COATING.

Application filed Nov. 9, 1898.)

9 Sheets-Shae't 6.

(No Model.)

m: ubmus PErERs coy. Pnoraumu, WASHINGTON. D. r:v

Patenfed Mar. 28, I899.

G. S. &, W. K. BAKER. MACHINE. FDR COVERING SMALL ARTICLES WITH LIQUID 0R SEMILIDUID COATING.

. [Application filed Nov. 9, 1898.)

.(No Model.)

9 Sheets-Sheet 7 Patented Mar. 28, I899.

G. S & W. K. BAKER. MACHINE FOR COVERING SMALL ARTICLES W ITH LlflUlD 0R SEMILIHUID COATING.

[Application filed Nam 9, 1898.)

' (No Model.)

9 Shee1s-Sheet 8.

THE mums PETERS cu. PNDTO LITNDH WASHINGTON, n, c.

Patented Mar. 28, I899.

G. 8. 8|. W K; BAKER. MACHINE FOR COVEEHNG SMALL ARTICLES WITH LIQUID 0B SEMILIHUID COATING.

{Application filed Nov. 9, 1898.)

9 Sheets-$heet 9 (No Model.)

TM: Nonnfs PETERS 00.. mamm uou wisnma'rom n. c.

U ITED SrA'IEs PATENT FFECE.

GEORGE SAMUEL BAKER AND I/VILLIAM KING BAKER, OF YVILLESDEN, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR COVERING SMALL ARTICLES WITH LIQUID OR SEMILIQUID COATING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 622,102, dated March 28, 1899.

Application filed November 9, 1398. Serial No. 895,973. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE SAMUEL BAKER and WILLIAM KING BAKER, subjects of the Queen of England, residing at Willesden, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coating-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for covering small articles with a liquid or semiliqnid coating; and it is particularly adapted for applying to confectionery aliquid orsemiliquid coating.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a machine constructed according to this invention. Fig. 2 is aview of the opposite side of the machine. Fig. 3 is an end view of the machine. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 with certain of the parts removed and with the remaining parts in a position different from that in which they are shown in the former figure. Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 "show successive positions of the arms 0, hereinafter referred to, and of the gear by which they are operated. Fig. 12 is a view of the parts shown in Figs. 5 to 11,

viewed in a direction at right angles to'that in which those figures are viewed. Fig. 13 is a half plan and half horizontal section of parts of the machine, other parts, including the gearing for operating the arms 0, being omitted. Fig. 1A is a detail of a bearing for the arms 0, hereinafter referred to. Fig. 15 is a detail vertical sectional view, somewhat enlarged, showing more clearly the relative arrangement of the parts D D D D E and E Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

The machine is provided with a tank or boX A, containing the coating-material. This tank or box is jacketed, a heating medium being introduced into the jacket to keep-the coating material in the tank in the liquid or semiliquid state at the desired temperature.

Attached to the sides of the tank A are frames 13, in which bearing-blocks B B reciprocate vertically. O are arms which are pivotally connected with said blocks 13' B Upon the frames B are mounted segmentracks C and a gear train C O for giving vertical motion to the blocks B B C is a lifting-rod operated by a cam G and operatively connected with the segmentrack C Upon a feed-table D is mounted a hopper D, said table and hopper being adapted to be given a rapid vibratory motion by means of eccentrics D on a main driving-shaft G and rocking arms D D Into the hopper the small goods to be coated are delivered. If these goods are hemispherical it is neces sary that each one should lie on its bottom or flat side when it issues to the coating apparatus. We have found that when a series of such hemispherical blanks is placed indiscriminately on a flat surface shaken horizontally each hemisphere which may have presented its fiat side upward is caused to turn over onto that flat surface. Thereafter they can be easily and uniformly fed to the coating apparatus.

The hopper D has a flat bottom for receiving the hemispheres to be coated, and at the side presented toward the remainder of the machine we provide a chamber D of a size just sufficient to receive one row of hemispheres. The two walls of this chamber are provided with doors D D adapted to be moved vertically and so operated that when the outer door D is closed to the feed-table the inner door D, admitting the hemispheres from the hopper to the chamber D is open. WVhen a row of hemispheres has been shaken into this chamber D by vibration of the hopper, the door D is closed, and at the same time the door D is opened by the means presently described, allowing the hemispheres to pass onward to the feed-table, which in this part has diverging grooves, down which the hemispheres or other goods or blanks pass by reason of the shaking motion of the table and hopper aforesaid and are deposited upon asecond table D which is constructed as a grid. The hemispheres are delivered by these the shutter-doors D I) of the chamber D These doors or shutters are worked in conjunction the one with the other and so controlled that they give a feed of one series of hemispherical or other goods for each cycle of the operations hereinafter described and controlled by the cam-shaft G As shown in Fig. l, the door D is raised and the door I) is lowered. Now when during the rotation of the cam D the projecting or cam portion thereof rides beneath the lower end of the vertical rod D which at its upper end is connected with one end of a rock-lever D, to which the doors D D are connected, said rock-lever I) will be rocked so as to lower the door D and raise the door D, and as the cam portion of the cam clears the lower end of the rod D the spring D forces the latter down again, thus again raising door I) and lowering door D and the described reverse movements of the doors are effected at each rotation of the cam D.

E E are a pair of arms pivoted at E 011 the side frames and connected together at the opposite end by the cross-bar E, supporting the grid-table E upon which the hemispheres are pushed from the fixed intermediate table D Vhcn so deposited in plaee,they areready to descend into theliquid in the tank A. The grid-table E is forced down into the liquid by the arms C in their circular passage, presently described, through it. In this circular movement the free ends of the arms 0 come first into contact with the upper side of the table E but in consequence of the frame E E which carries the grid-table, having a longer swing or leverage, at about the time when the fingers F presently described, have seized the hemispheres and have left the liquid the arms 0 free the table E and the latter is thus released and allowed to return to its original position by anysuitable means, as a spring (Z bearing at one end upon the under side of the grid E and secured at the opposite end to a wall of the tank A, the said grid being then read yto receive the next row of goods to be deposited upon it.

The arms 0 (J are pivotally mounted at one end in blocks B and B which slide in vertical guide-openings in the side frames B B. These arms C form a frame having two distinct motions, one a vertical motion in the frame guides, as before stated, and the other a rotary motion on the trunnions in the blocks 13 and B The arms are connected together by a bar F, cast with them.

Upon a bar F movable in a direction transverse to its length in jaws at the ends of the arms 0, are a series of short arms F, set at the same distance apart as the hemispheres when the latter are in position on the table E ready for dipping. At the extreme end of these short arms is a device (shown in Figs. 3, 4., 5, 6, 7, 8, 0, '10, 11, and 13) comprising fingers F for gripping the hemispheres when passing through the liquid and releasing them at the proper time described. This device may be likened to the action of the digits of the human hand and consists of three members, the front one, F rigidly secured to the end of the short arm F and' following manner: Above and belowthe tailpieces F of the fingers F F" rods F and F" pass, the ends of which are secured in one of the arms of bell-crank levers F, Fig. 2, pivoted to a continuation of the arm 0. The other arm of this bell-crank is adapted to be operated by a guide M M, over which it travels and which operates it to raise or lower the rods F and F, and so through the tail pieces of the fingers causes all the said fingers to move in unison relatively to the fixed pieces F \Vhen the bell-crank F is not acted upon by the guide'strip M or the incline M, it is influenced by a spring, which has the tendency to cause the fingers to close together, as hereinafter described.

Beneath the tank are suitable shafts for gearing down the speed from the shaft G, carrying the d riving-pulleys, to the shaft G carrying the cams for actuating the several mov ing parts. In the arrangement shown we employ three shafts G, G, and G Shaft G carries the d riving-pulleys G a beveled f rietionwheel G for driving the decorating device, to be hereinafter described, the first pinion of the gearing-down train of spur-wheels G and eccentrics D for giving the shaking motion to the feed-table D. Shaft G is simply an intermediate shaft carrying spu r-wheel and pinion G and G The shaft G carries the wheel G the last of the gearing-down train, and which causes the shaft G to run atasuitable speed to perform the various operations. The shaft G carries at one end outside the frames a cam G", whose function it is to raise the blocks B B in which the arms 0 are trunnioned, the blocks and arms descending by their own weight. The other end of the shaft G carries a closed or other suitable cam G?" for raising and lowering the rack G in order to give, in part directly and in part through a pinion H and other racks H and II, a revolving motion to the frame constituted by the arms 0 and bar F and hereinafter referred to as the frame 0 C F. The cam G" for giving a vertical motion to this frame opcrates as follows: A sliding connecting-rod 0, upon the lower end of which is a roller resting upon the cam, is connected at the top to a toothed quadrant C.' This quadrant meshes with a pinion C The pinion is keyed to a cross-shaft C upon which are also keyed two spur-wheels C G which gear into the racks B formed into guide-rods attached to the blocks 13 and 13 It is only necessary for the cam to lift the frame, the weight of the several parts being sufficient to effect its descent. By this arrangement a small lifting motion of the cam is multiplied, so as to give the required travel to the sliding blocks 13 and B v The closed cam G10 for giving and governing the rotary motion of the arms and bar F does so by racks G, H, and H, of which G is under the immediate control of the cam G H is raised and lowered through an idle spur-pinion H fixed to the top of the side frame, and H has no motion, but is attached to the side of the machine. On one side of the frame 0 O F the trunnion carrying it is prolonged, and keyed to it are two pinion-segments side by side. The teeth of these pinion-segments are so arranged that certain blank spaces are left, so as to pass clear of the teeth in the racks when the frame 0 O F is not required to revolve. One rotary movement of the frame is given by the motion of the rack G acting direct upon the pinionsegment H while the frame and pinion are not being moved by the cam G Another portion of this rotary movement is given by the rack H also while the frame is not being moved up and down by the said cam, and the third part of the rotary movement is caused by the downward motion of the frame when the teeth of the pinion-segment H are engaged with fixed rack II.

The device for decorating is seen in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 13. -Upright spindles J and J are mounted in suitable hearings on the side of the tank A and driven during a small portion of the time necessary to perform one operaton of coating. These spindles are driven by beveled wheels from the quick-running main shaft G. Of these beveled wheels the pair J and G are friction-wheels. The others, Fig. 3, J J J and J are ordinary beveledtoothed wheels. Upon the upright spindle J a disk J is keyed, which has one lugj on its edge. A sliding bolt J engages with this lug and prevents the spindle from turning during part of the cycle. During this time one frictionwheel slips past the'other. At the proper time of the revolution of the shaft G2 a lug or pin J on cam G draws this bolt aside and the spindle is allowed to revolve. The bolt is released by the onward travel of the cam and returned by an opposing spring j again holding the spindle from turning. At the top of upright shafts J and J are horizontal cranks J J Fig. 13, carrying a bar J Upon this bar are pins .1, which engage in the bar F carrying the finger-arms, and through the cranks motion is given to the finger-bar and fingers. In the example illustrated the bar F and all the parts attached to it will move in circles of the same size as that described by the pin J on the bar J, and the residual liquid dropping from between the thumb F and fingers F and F will be caused to follow a similar circular path, so as to descend in a circular pattern onto the goods.

At certain stages of the operation a hammering motion may be given to the arms 0 to knock ofi the superfluous'liquid. No device for this purpose is shown in the drawings.

K isa mixer of a suitable form continually revolving in the liquid in the tank A for the purpose of agitating it and keeping it thoroughly mixed. I

Fig. 14 shows the device for holding the frame 0 O F in a horizontal position. to right and left of the center of the machine when the pinion-segment teeth are free from the racks. A stop-piece L engages in the depressions in the trunnions of the frame and is held by a spring, as shown.

The operation of coating is as follows: A row of small goods being automatically placed upon the dipping-grid E Fig. 1, the fingers F F F descend and hold them, as shown in Fig. 5. The cam G moves in the direction of the arrow, causing the teeth on rack G to ascend and to revolve by means of the pinion H the frame C C F carrying the fingers F F F and the goods retained in them backward and forward in the liquid in the tank A, finally stopping in the position shown in Fig. 6, where the superfluous coating material may be knocked off by a mechanical hammer or otherwise. Cam G9 now by acting on the parts 0 O C C B B B raises the frame vertically to position shown in Fig. 7, when the pinion H engages in rack H, which here has no motion. Its further vertical travel causes it to revolve, landing it upon a table in position shown in Fig. 8, at which moment the fingers are caused to open and release the goods, and then being still further lifted vertically without rotation the fingers are caused to close, as in Fig. 9. As a certain amount of residual liquid adheres to the fingers, which are now joined together, it

runs in a stream from them, and at this modescends vertically, when the finger-frame assumes the position shown in Fig. 11 through the action of the outer pinion H Fig. 12, en-

gaging with the fixed rack H. At the same time the fingers are opened by means of hellcrank F coming in contact with the guide strip M, as shown in Fig. 1. The fingers are now immediately over another row of goods which have meanwhile been deposited upon the dipping-grid, and the further downward vertical descent of the frame causes the fingers to take hold of the new row of goods and the operation is repeated.

It is clear that by giving various movements to the finger-bar F circles, straight lines, wavy lines, or any other required design can be given to the tails for the orna mentation of the top of the goods by means of modified and suitable gearing attached to the top of the vertical shaft J and J.

IIO

hat we claim, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is-

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a support for the articles to be coated, and a receptacle for coating material, of means for depressing said support within said receptacle, seizing the articles and removing them from their support after being coated,comprising fingers adapted to close upon the articles simultaneously and similarly release them, and means for operating the fingers.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a pivoted support for the articles to be coated, and a receptacle for coating material, of means for depressing said support within the receptacle and seizing the articles and removing them from their support after being coated, comprising pivoted arms, fingers carried thereby adapted to simultaneously close upon the articles and siin ultaneousl y release them, and means for operating the fingers.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a pivoted support for the articles to be coated, and a receptacle for coating material, of means for depressing said support within the receptacle, seizing the articles and removing them from their support after being coated comprising pivoted arms, fingers carried thereby, means for operating the fingers to cause them to simultaneously seize and similarly release the articles, and means for imparting forward and backward swinging movements to the arms and fingers and the articles held thereby within the material in the receptacle.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a support for the articles to be coated and a receptacle for coating material, of devices for depressing said support within said receptacle and seizing the articles and removing them from their support after being coated and delivering them exteriorly of the receptacle, and means for imparting a motion to said delivery devices after having released the coated articles, while in a position directly over said articles for the purpose set forth.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a receptacle for coating materiahof guideways, verticallymovable blocks therein, arms pivotally connected at one end with the blocks, and adapted for vertical movement therewith, gripping devices carried by the arms and means for imparting swinging movements to the arms as the latter and the blocks move vertically in the guideways, in the manner and for the purposes specified.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination With a receptacle forcoating material, of guideways, verticallymovable blocks therein, connected arms pivotally connected at one end with the blocks, and adapted for vertical movement therewith, apinion mounted upon the trunnion of one of the arms, the racks G, H and H with which said pinion is adapted to engage, means for moving the rack G vertically, and gripping devices carried by the arms, all arranged and adapted for cooperation as and for the purposes specified.

7. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a receptacle for coating material, of a grid adapted to receive the articles to be coated, pivoted arms supporting said grid, pivoted arms adapted for vertical as well as swinging movements, gripping devices carried by the latter arms and corresponding to the divisions of the grid and adapted to seize the articles on said divisions and remove them from the grid, means for operating the gripping devices, and means for operating the pivoted arms carrying the said gripping devices.

8. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a receptacle for coating material, of a receptacle for the articles to be coated adapted to be given a vibratory motion, a grid arranged to receive the articles as they are delivered from said latter receptacle, and a second grid arranged to receive the articles from the first grid, means for pushing the articles from the first grid onto the second grid, and means for seizing the articles from the second grid and passing them through the coating material.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination with a receptacle for coating material, of guide\vays,verticallymovable blocks therein, connected arms pivotally connected at one end with the blocks and adapted for vertical movement therewith, a pinion mounted on the trunnion of one of the arms, racks G II and II with which said pinion is adapted to engage, gripping devices carried by the arms, racks 1-3 carried by the blocks, pivoted quadrant-racks, and gearing between the latter racks and the racks B and means for oscillating the quadrant-racks.

In testimony whereof we have hereto set our hands in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE SAMUEL BAKER. \VILLIAM KING BAKER.

\Vitnesses:

WM. J NO. TENNANT, HARRY B. BRIDGE. 

